"I recently purchased an eight year old warmblood who has shivers. He had a career as an eventer until he was diagnosed. I have found some information online, but am looking for more. I am interested in learning about how a change in diet can be of help to my gelding. In the process of learning more, I have had conflicting information regarding types of hay, grain, etc. Any advice that you can give will be greatly appreciated. Thank you." Lisa

Senior Nutritionalist for Dengie Superior Horse Feeds Katie Williams MSc (Dist) R Nutr replies: "Lisa, thank you for your query regarding shivers. Unfortunately there is no effective treatment for shivers and it is a disease that gets worse over time although the rate of progression can vary considerably. There is no scientific evidence to show that a particular diet will be of benefit but some people do report that a high oil, low starch and sugar diet can be helpful. This is the type of diet that is also recommended for other muscle problems such as ERS (tying-up). Very high starch diets tend to make the body more acidic and usually result in a low omega 3 intake as less fibre is fed. Supplying more fibre tends to be beneficial for overall health and well-being and using good quality oil can help to put the body in a less inflammatory state.

The basis to any horse’s diet should be fibre and unless you have a very good do-er, feeding plenty of fibre is beneficial for the horse’s overall health and well-being. There is no evidence to show that haylage shouldn’t be used for a horse with shivers and in fact, it is likely to have a lower sugar content than hay as the fermentation process utilizes some of the sugar present. If however, your horse is a good do-er, using haylage may not be ideal as it is more digestible and therefore likely to result in weight gain.

There are various ways to supply oil in your horse’s diet the most suitable are as a straight oil or a chopped fibre feed with added oil. Oil varies in quality with corn oil towards the bottom of the quality scale and linseed and hemp oil towards the top. Most feed companies use soya oil in feeds as it is a relatively cost effective oil to use and is in the middle of the quality scale.

If using a straight oil it will be necessary to feed something else to carry the oil and this must be fibre based as the aim is to keep cereals out of the diet as they contain starch. Feeds such as unmolassed sugar beet e.g. Speedi-Beet or Dengie Alfa-Beet are ideal for mixing oil in to as they are fed soaked and hide the oil quite well. Despite the name, sugar beet that is used for horses actually has a low sugar content as the sugar has been extracted and it is the fibrous residue that is left. It is therefore suitable for your horse.

If you want to use a chopped fibre feed that already has oil added there are a couple on the market including Dengie Alfa-A Oil or Mollichaff Alfalfa Oil. The alfalfa in these products is naturally low in starch and sugar and so is again suitable for your horse.

As all of the fibre feeds mentioned are straights it would be necessary to add a source of vitamins and minerals to balance the ration. A high spec vitamin and mineral supplement or a Balancer would be suitable as both are relatively low in starch and sugar. When increased levels of oil are fed it is recommended that additional vitamin E and selenium are used as these are the nutrients that form part of the anti-oxidant protection system in the muscles. Some feeds will have these nutrients already added.

To summarise, a suitable ration would be as follows:

Ad lib hay
Soaked unmolassed beet product
Added linseed oil
Balancer or supplement

As the balancer or supplement provides the essential vitamins and minerals your horse needs it is important to follow the feeding guidelines given by the manufacturer. The amounts of fibre and oil required will largely be determined by your horse’s weight and workload. To get a specific feeding plan why not contact a feed helpline with this additional information and they can advise you on quantities.

I hope this information is of help to you and clarifies a few things. If you have any further queries then please don’t hesitate to contact us again."

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